Nicolò Umberto Foron

Nicolò Umberto Foron is a German-Italian conductor whose talent has been recognized through significant accolades, including winning the prestigious “Donatella Flick” Conducting Competition in March 2023 and the International Conducting Competition “Jeunesses Musicales” in Bucharest in 2021. He currently serves as the Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Nicolò Foron has been featured multiple times on Classic FM, where his videos have garnered millions of views, and has also been named one of the 2025 “30 Under 30” artists.

In recent years, Nicolò Foron has collaborated with a wide range of distinguished orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Staatskapelle Weimar, Opéra national de Montpellier, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (Turin), Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, Opéra national de Lorraine, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. In addition, he has led performances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and made his debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Wiener Kammerorchester. He has also conducted the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra on tour with Viktoria Mullova, as well as the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Arktisk Filharmoni, with appearances at prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Die Glocke Bremen. In February 2025, he conducted both the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Barbican) and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Musiikkitalo) performing a mix of world premieres and highly specialized repertoire. Further concerts have included the Bremer Philharmoniker, Cameristi della Scala, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Euskadiko Orkestra (Basque National Orchestra), and the Odense Symfoniorkester.

The 2025–2026 season sees Foron leading a dynamic series of performances at the MiTo SettembreMusica Festival and with orchestras such as the SWR Symphonieorchester, Orquesta de Extremadura, a tour with Orchestra Haydn, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, among others. He also returns to the Arktisk Filharmoni and the Cameristi della Scala.

Renowned for his versatility, Foron has conducted numerous world premieres, particularly with Ensemble intercontemporain, and excels in both symphonic and operatic repertoires. His operatic achievements include performances of The Marriage of Figaro (Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy), Hansel and Gretel (Staatskapelle Weimar), and Walter Kollo’s operetta Jettchen Gebert (Musikalische Komödie Leipzig), alongside premieres of contemporary Dutch operas.

Foron’s musical career began at an early age, studying conducting, composition, and piano, the latter being his first instrument. He trained with renowned pianists such as K.H. Kammerling and A. Ugorski and began studying conducting under Jorma Panula at the age of 10. His extraordinary abilities drew the attention of Bernard Haitink, who invited him at age 16 to take part in masterclasses at the Lucerne Festival. At the age of 16, Foron began formal conducting studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, followed by a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music and an Advanced Diploma in Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London, from which he graduated in 2021. He continues to perform as a concert pianist, often collaborating with his sister, violinist Mira Foron.

During the pandemic lockdown, Foron conducted the Noord Nederlands Orkest in a livestream and a CD recording featuring Jan-Peter de Graaf’s Cello Concerto, which earned him a nomination for the German Schallplatten Prize. In 2023, he was named Artist in Residence by German National Broadcasting, an honor that included both a concert and a CD recording with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The CD will be published by Deutsche Grammophon/Avi in the summer of 2025.